Old Main

I originally took this shot in color but always felt that the character of Northampton's Old Main shone through better in black and white. I also considered editing out the solar flare above the roof line but somehow it just felt right to leave it in. Northampton began my obsession with exploration and this hospital shows a true timeline of how my photography has changed drastically over the last two years. While Old Main is no longer there, I will always remember my first trip to the Hospital on the Hill overlooking Smith College where I did my graduate work and where Sylvia Plath once sat, writing her suicidal missives that would eventually land her in Northampton's richer, classier older sister, McLean in Belmont.

I can remember the smell of the nurse's ward, the cold, damp feel of the tunnels we snaked through to get to the Kirkbride. I can still see the massive collapse in the basement of all four upper floors of Old Main. NoHo is the spark that lit the fire of exploration for me, both in my photography and in my writing. She has been sorely missed.